Chili Bowl Nationals unaffected by damage to Expo Center wall

A wall was pulled out of the River Spirit Expo Center building on Thursday

Crews are currently working to cleanup and repair damage to a wall at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. The River Spirit Expo Center building had a wall ripped out by a dump truck on Thursday.

The truck was bringing in dirt for a BMX event that is set to be held inside the building. The truck pulled out and the loading portion of the truck snagged onto a pillar above.

As the truck pulled out of the building, it pulled the wall and support beams with it.

Rumors circulated fast. Dirt racing fans were under the impression that this was caused during setup for the Chili Bowl Nationals. That was not the case as a different crew is working to setup the BMX track.

Chili Bowl Nationals - Tulsa Expo Center
Chili Bowl Nationals – Tulsa Expo Center (Photo: DB3 Imaging)

Chili Bowl staff comments on damage to building

“No, we didn’t do that to the building. They are hauling dirt for BMX,” Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Director, Matt Ward stated via social media.

On January 13-18, 2020 the Chili Bowl Nationals event takes place in the Tulsa, Oklahoma building. Officials from the event has posted a release that the event with not be affected.

Additionally, a week before the Chili Bowl, the Tulsa Shootout enters the building. That event runs from January 1-4, 2020. That event will also not be affected by the damage.

“As most of the racing world has seen by now, the River Spirit Expo Center sustained damage to the lower rollup door on the northside of the building on Wednesday, November 13, 2019. To squash any rumors that have already begun circulating, this is what you need to know….”

“This incident had nothing to do with the staff of the Tulsa Shootout or Chili Bowl Nationals. Our event doesn’t start setting up until Mid-December.”

“This will not affect the running of the Tulsa Shootout or Chili Bowl Nationals. The Tulsa Shootout is January 1-4, 2020 and the Chili Bowl Nationals is January 13-18, 2020.”

“Expo Square is already working to fix the damage,” the release concluded.

You can watch the video of the damage here.

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Tulsa Shootout | Chili Bowl Nationals

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